


Just One More Quest

by Natsumiya_Teirin



Series: Linktober [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Aizawa is Robbie's wife, Alternate Universe - Zelda Breath of the Wild, Bakugou is Teba, Eijiro is Sidon, Eri is Zelda, F/F, F/M, Gen, Izuku is Link, Jirou is Riju, Kaminari is Yunobo, Kurogiri/Oboro is Simon, M/M, Midnight is Purah, Momo is Urbosa, Neito is Revali, Ochako is Mipha, Older Eri, Tetsutetsu is Daruk, Yamada is Robbie, and Todoroki is all the shopkeepers and inn-people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:47:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 31
Words: 7,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26756023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natsumiya_Teirin/pseuds/Natsumiya_Teirin
Summary: A collection of prompts for Linktober, using the My Hero Academia ensemble.In which:Eri is a literal princess,Kirishima is the manliest Zora to ever Zora (especially after the death of his sister Ochako),Jirou is insecure and unsure if she can uphold Momo's legacy,Denki means well, even if he's not as smart as his great-great grandpa Tetsutetsu,Katsuki is determined to follow in Neito's footsteps and save Rito Village,Shouto is a well-meaning sort-of-stalker,And Izuku just wants to help save everyone.
Relationships: Chisaki Kai | Overhaul & Eri, Chisaki Kai | Overhaul & Midoriya Izuku, Class 1-A & Midoriya Izuku, Eri & Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Izuku & Monoma Neito, Midoriya Izuku & U.A. Faculty
Series: Linktober [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949014
Comments: 22
Kudos: 32





	1. Monsters!

Izuku peers through the tree branches at the screeching bokoblins camped just a few feet away. Dangling from a branch in a tree at the other side of the camp is a courser bee hive. 

The bokoblins look kind of like wild boars, but bipedal and red-skinned, and they at least don't go around _completely_ nude (that would've been horrible to wake up to). Their skin looks leathery and tough, but as Izuku releases the drawstring of the boko bow he'd pilferred, and the bees swarm around the screeching bokoblins, he sees their skin is actually nowhere near as tough as it looks.

With a grin, he clambers down from the tree and begins attacking the distracted bokoblins. One of them swings its club at his head, and Izuku blocks it with his shield- a rusted metal shield he'd found near the bank of Lake Hylia- before lunging forward and stabbing the creature with the broadsword he'd found elsewhere. It dissipates in a cloud of dark purple smoke as another bokoblin tries to slice his backside. 

Izuku turns and parries and stabs, and this one dies much like its comrade. The bees stung the third bokoblin to death, and Izuku grimaces- those stingers _hurt_. But with their hive broken, the courser bees have flown away, so Izuku steals the honeycomb from the hive and goes on to nab the weapons and assorted arrows and fruits left in the crates and barrels at the edges of the campsite. 

Then he settles beside the campfire to eat the seared steak left on the spit. 

Looting monster camps like this is a good way to get some selling fodder. 


	2. Princess

When Izuku awakens from his hundred year slumber to a gentle voice in his head guiding him to the Sheikah Tower on the Great Plateau, he has no idea who she is. He just knows her voice is vaguely familiar. 

Later, she tells him her name is Eri. She's stuck in Hyrule Castle using her sacred powers to hold back the Great Calamity- All For One. 

And Izuku decides, even though he doesn't remember her, he has to save her. That is his purpose- it's written into his very bones. 

And then, gradually, he _does_ remember. 

He remembers following her on his loyal horse Deku, as she researched the Sheikah Tribe's technology, and he remembers watching over her as she prayed and cried at the Spring of Wisdom. 

His princess- the intelligent young lady he'd sworn to protect.

Through spiritual means, Eri bestows upon Izuku the Bow of Light, and he fires from it straight and true. 

The battle is won. 

Eri appears before him, bright and shining. Her red eyes glisten with relieved tears. Her dress is torn and dirty, and there are a few shallow scrapes on her cheeks. The light from her horn- the conduit of the great power she was always destined to wield- fades as Izuku kneels before her. 

"Izuku, you don't have to-" she begins, but Izuku cuts her off. 

"Eri. My Lady. My Princess. Please, let me pledge myself to you again!" 

She hesitates, and then nods. 

"Very well. Izuku...you have been by my side since I was young. You have served and protected me better than any other." She extends her left hand, the faint outline of the Triforce more prominent than ever. 

"Izuku...will you continue to serve me and the kingdom of Hyrule still?" 

Izuku smiles. He takes her hand and lightly brushes his lips across her knuckles. 

"I shall serve you however you wish, my Princess." 


	3. Time

"After the Calamity a hundred years ago..."

"When you disappeared a hundred years ago..."

"A hundred years ago..."

People keep saying that as if Izuku doesn't remember. And that's fair, he supposes, but it's a little bit annoying- especially after he begins using the pictures on the camera Nemuri had restored to recover his memories (or at least, some of them). 

He remembers enough to know that all his friends are dead. Actually, most of the people who were alive back then are dead- and the ones who aren't are either old and gray, like Shouta and technically Nemuri (though that experiment had reverted her back to her thirty-something year old self, and she didn't _seem_ to age anymore?), or Zoras like Eijirou and Himiko who will probably live for another few centuries. 

He knows he failed, way back then. He made a mistake- probably several- somewhere and should have died with the other Champions. 

And he sees those mistakes _everywhere_ now, in the ruins of Mabe Village and the countless Bokoblin/Moblin/Lizalfos camps scattered around Hyrule and the travelers running from stray Guardians and monsters. 

_I know already. You don't need to rub it in, universe! I already know I wasn't able to save them in time..._


	4. Favorite Place

Upon his first visit, Izuku instantly decides he likes Hateno Village. 

Having been largely untouched by All For One (somehow), the village is still thriving. No one lives in fear for their lives- only fearing the Bokoblin bandits who try to steal their livestock- and there are no ruined buildings around every corner, and there's no village elder to tell him about the consequences of his failure. 

It's quiet and peaceful and so painfully, wonderfully _mundane_ and Izuku absolutely _loves_ it. He even sells off all the stones and monster parts he'd found to the shopkeeper (who looks like the innkeeper who looks like the dye-master who looks like the stable-master, who just stares at him with a soft smile and a vaguely unsettling gaze) so he could afford to buy the house at the edge of the village. When all this is over- and he _will_ succeed this time- and he has nothing left to accomplish, he'll return. 

He'll return to that house, lovingly decorated and furnished and illuminated, and he'll stay there, quietly. 

He remembers Princess Eri asking him what he would've done had he not come from a family of knights, and if he somehow couldn't use a sword. He didn't have an answer for her then.

But now he does, and he tells her when they meet, when All For One is gone and she asks him. 

"If you were not my knight, if you had to choose a different path, what would you do, Izuku?" 

"I'd live in a house at the edge of a village," he says assuredly, "I'd help people with all the little things no one else cares about, and I'd carve out a niche for myself in my favorite place." 


	5. Flora

Izuku isn't entirely sure what prompts him to start browsing through the books in Gerudo Town- idle curiosity, maybe, or else just to get a better feel for the Gerudo variation of written Hylian. 

But he sits down on a sandstone step a little out of the way of the market plaza and begins reading. 

_A Guide To Hylian Floriography_

_Amoranth- Given the tough medicinal properties of this brilliant purple flower, combined with the magic of the regions it is found (Satori Mountain and the Great Fairy Fountain in Akkala), it is little wonder that the symbolism of this plant is what it is. On its own, a single Amoranth symbolizes a tough appearance surrounding a good heart. Multiple Amoranths can be given to symbolize a strength in numbers. Often, in times during and before All For One, platoons were given entire baskets of Amoranths to encourage a unified defensive front._

_Amoranths can also be paired with various types of Saffina to establish protection from specific elements, or with Blue Nightshade to advise caution against a cunning adversary._

There is a faded illustration of an Amoranth, and looking at it, Izuku suddenly feels hungry. 


	6. Shop

The first time Izuku meets Shouto, it's at Dueling Peaks stable, after roughly half an hour spent paragliding from the Great Plateau and then a few more hours of walking to the stable itself (and fighting monsters on the way). 

The first time Shouto meets Izuku, it's when the younger boy saves him from an especially massive red Chuchu that'd somehow gotten down to the _Lanayru_ region. 

And he is quickly enamored by him- by this boy who looks like the forest personified but who has all the mercy of a healing spring and the strength of a burning mountain. 

A century later and Shouto still remembers, even though Izuku does not. A combination of Zora and Goron blood from many many _many_ generations before keeps him young and healthy and gifts him with exceptional foresight and even more exceptional speed. 

So he sees when Izuku wakes, sees what he's going to do before the boy can think of it. 

He'd already started up various storefronts and inns to help rebuild after All For One struck, so he figures he can do something with those.

* * *

Izuku finds Shouto manning the counter at High Spirits Produce. And at The Curious Quiver. He says he has a large family and they all manage different shops and inns and such all across Hyrule, but Izuku doesn't buy it (pun definitely intended). 

Because Shouto's expression is something uniquely _him-_ a small, soft smile that greets Izuku whenever he steps into any sort of shop.

And he does mean _any_ shop. 

Izuku finds Shouto in Gerudo town, and it's very surreal. The canopies obscure the merchants' faces, but that smile is still the same. Shouto is dressed in a rust-colored sirwal and a dull blue top with rust-red sleeves and a matching red veil. Aforementioned veil is translucent, hiding absolutely nothing, and no one seems to notice. 

Izuku carefully doesn't ask questions and continues on his way to meet Chief Kyoka and subdue Vah Naboris. 

And he also sees Shouto in the _Lost Woods, in the Deku Tree's Naval,_ comically bigger than the Koroks and wearing a red maple leaf mask in what _must_ be a deliberately poor attempt to blend in. 

But Izuku supposes he can't complain. Shouto is fair with his prices, and...he finds it rather nice, knowing that at least one person is looking out for him on his long journey to save everyone else.


	7. Mount

Deku is a good horse. 

He is not like the legendary horse Epona- firstly because he is a stallion, not a mare, and also because his master is not quite as confident or responsible as the legendary hero Link. 

His master- the forest-like boy the other humans call Izuku- is reckless and helpful to the point he'd risk his life against those scuttling metal monsters simply so some other wealthy human won't be bored. At least he's not endangering _Deku_ in this stunt. 

Stupid, _stupid_ human. 

But perhaps Deku is stupid, too, for giving his loyalty to this idiot. 


	8. Weapon

Izuku has a decent handling of pretty much any weapon you'd care to name- though claymores and more Goron-suited weapons are still pretty heavy to work with (and it's a miracle he can even move at all, really- a century of sleep should've atrophied his muscles) and spears are a bit longer than his body is used to. 

But each Champion had their own specialties.

Ochako was very good with longer-ranged weapons- spears and halberds, and especially her trident. 

Momo did well with shorter-ranged weapons- scimitars and knives and daggers. 

Even by Goron standards, Tetsutetsu could really swing those two-handed weapons- from a simple sledgehammer to heavy swords capable of shattering stone. 

Neito was a force of nature with a bow, even without his ability to literally create wind beneath his feet. He flew faster than any other Rito and he'd wiped out entire scores of Guardians with only a bow and forty bomb arrows.

And then there was Izuku, a decent balance between them. His weapon specialty was mid-range. He wasn't as light or fast as a Rito, but also not as heavy as a Goron. He didn't have the muscular build of the Gerudo, but he wasn't as lithe as a Zora. 

But he had plenty of skill, especially with a sword.

Especially with the Master Sword. 

And that sword in particular felt better in his hand than any other. 


	9. Castle

Izuku doesn't have much trouble sneaking past the Guardian Stalkers surrounding Hyrule Castle. Mostly cause he just swims across the moat, and aforementioned moat is too deep for any Guardians that might've seen him to get through.

So, Izuku swims until he reaches a bank leading up a bit into the dungeons. He makes his way further up from there and comes out into the crumbling ruins of what used to be the courtyard.

He sees crumbling pillars and faded cobblestones and broken glass, and he can guess what the castle might've looked like back before All-For-One.

And he is reminded of the vow he took. 


	10. Link

Every so often during his travels, Izuku hears about the Legendary Hero. A brave young man who existed several millennia ago. 

He saved Hyrule several times over, even when things seemed impossible- and he did it all on his own, or so the legends say. 

Sometimes, when he sits beside the campfire at night and entertains his thoughts, Izuku wonders if maybe, what that great hero went through, felt anything like this. 

Did he also feel inadequate?

Was he also constantly reminded of failures he couldn't remember?

Was there the same temptation to just give up? 

Did he also question if it was worth saving a world that didn't remember him and thought he was dead? 

One day, Izuku finds a beautiful wolf with black fur and blue eyes and a strange white crest on his forehead. He seems otherworldly, and somehow sapient in a way the Wolfos are not. 

The wolf stays by Izuku's side for reasons he cannot possibly understand, but when he looks into those vibrant blue eyes, Izuku feels a sense of nostalgia and kinship, and it's like all of his questions have been answered- his doubts reassured.

And he knows deep down that somehow, his loyal companion bears the same spirit. 

The spirit of that mythical hero named Link.


	11. Ganon

For every great hero, there must also be a great villain. Whether it's the internal dilemmas of said hero or some external force, that suffering is necessary for one to become a hero at all. 

Heroes fight villains. That's all there is to it. 

As he travels across Hyrule, Izuku meets people who compare him to the Hero of Legend, but when he presses them for clarification and asks about the legends, there are discrepancies. 

Eijirou and his father Sorahiko tell him the Hero travelled with the Princess of Twilight, from a small farming village once called Ordon, and that together they brought down a huge meteorite and dispelled the freezing twilight that nearly left the Zoras extinct, courtesy of a cruel shadow-king who wanted to swallow the world in darkness. 

The Gorons say the Hero came from the sky and used the powers of wind to defeat the dark emperor who was torturing the Mountain God Valoo, thereby saving Goron Village- it wasn't a city yet, back then- from the Great Dragon's agonized rage. 

Katsuki- or more accurately, his parents Mitsuki and Masaru- informs him that the Hero was carried over by the ocean, beloved by the currents, and with his magic baton he directed the elements and defeated a tyrannical bandit who was laying waste to everything.

The Gerudo don't have much in the ways of mythos, but Kyouka says the Hero crossed over to the desert from the forest and enlisted the help of a certain Gerudo named Nabooru in bringing down the wicked Gerudo King Ganon who'd been causing havoc in Hyrule the last seven years. 

The Deku Tree says these are all true, if slightly mingled, and that the Hero actually travelled through time to save Hyrule in its times of crisis. 

Later, as Izuku enters the crumbling ruins of Hyrule Castle Town, he wonders if the Hero of Legend might travel back through time to help him, since the villain in this era seems to be tied to the villains from eras past. 

He grits his teeth and brushes that feeble hope aside. Beside him, the courageous and loyal blue-eyed wolf bares his teeth, his posture that of a hero preparing to fight an old foe.


	12. Mask

Izuku stares hard at Shouto across the log marking the entryway of the Shroom and Spore. 

And he stares.

And stares.

And stares some more.

Green eyes bore into heterochromatic brown and blue. 

Izuku sighs and looks pointedly at the red maple leaf affixed to Shouto's nose. It does nothing to hide his obviously not-Korok face. 

Shouto smiles patiently, and at this point it seems more taunting than anything. 

"Let me guess," Izuku says dryly. 

"Your mother's second cousin's best friend's sister's nephew's great great aunt's son-in-law's niece's _fifth cousin twice removed_...is part _Korok._ " 

Shouto blinks and adjusts the leaf perched on his nose and affixed there by a simple bit of rope. 

"Yes, actually, how did you know?" 

Izuku sends him a withering look and slides a red rupee onto the leaf on the log-table-register. 

"Just...for the love of Nayru give me a voltshroom. _Please._ " 


	13. Sheikah

Izuku thinks the Sheikah Stone is pretty darn great. 

It allows him to use four different runes- five if you count the bombs as two separate runes- and it keeps track of shrines. It displays the date, the time, the current temperature, the weather, an hour-by-hour geographical weather forcast, and a topographically accurate map. 

So much functionality in one slate! And all at the tap of a finger!

Sheikah technology is really amazing! 

And then he goes to Hateno, goes to the Research Lab and meets Nemuri and Oboro, and it _gets better!_

Suddenly he can change what the Sheikah Stone targets! And he can take pictures! And- he can use those pictures to recover some of his memories, which is better than none (sometimes, except then he gets nightmares and he sees the ruins of Mabe, and Castle Town, and realizes it's his fault he's guilty guilty guilty-), and really, Sheikah tech is truly incredible! 


	14. Food

There is something soothing about cooking, Izuku thinks. 

Something cathartic in choosing ingredients and adding them to the cooking pot and smelling their combining scents. 

Eating the food is nice, too- Izuku loves hearty meat and rice bowls. It makes him feel full, but also more energized- stronger, tougher, quicker, _better._

And then he meets Cotla and helps her find ingredients and cook her special recipes, and he finds an entirely different kind of joy in helping someone cook- in combining his efforts with someone else much like he combines ingredients, to make something someone else can enjoy. 

Cooking and fighting are the only things that feel familiar, the only things his body remembers when his mind does not, but cooking is so much more rewarding in the short term. 

Food in general is so much more rewarding in the short term.


	15. Pet

Izuku finds the blue-eyed wolf at the Great Fairy Fountain near Kakariko Village. It almost looks like a Wasteland Coyote, but a bit bigger, a bit longer, and with a whiter underbelly. 

And it has bright blue eyes, more intelligent than any wolf Izuku had seen so far, shining with something he could only describe as determination. 

So when the unique wolf doesn't rear back and try to attack him, Izuku kneels down in front of it and extends his hand towards it, palm up. The wolf chuffs in something Izuku almost mistakes for amusement, and pushes its snout against his hand, then presses forward until Izuku suddenly finds himself petting the strange crest of fur on its forehead. 

Its tail wags, thump-thump-thump-thumping against the ground, and out of the corner of his eye, Izuku sees Cotera peeking curiously out of her fountain.

The wolf growls lowly, not threatening but content, and Izuku dares to scratch behind its ears. It presses against his hand, urging him to scratch deeper as he sits back onto the grass.

It doesn't seem inclined to leave anytime soon, even laying its head in Izuku's lap. 

Izuku hums, wondering if this wolf would follow him, and if it does, if he should give it a name. Deciding it probably would, he thinks.

What would be a fitting name? What would be a fitting name for a wolf like this?

He remembers Chiyo's story, of a legendary hero reborn time and time again when Hyrule had need of him, and he thinks of the courageous look in the wolf's eyes. 

"...I think I'll call you...Link."


	16. Magic

Denki watches Izuku swing his sword, calculated and precise and sure, and he feels wholly inadequate for the task ahead. 

"How do you _do_ that?" He asks in awe. "You move so fast and you look like you know what's gonna happen before it happens! It's gotta be magic, right?" 

Izuku smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"Well, you're not wrong. Confidence is a form of magic."

And really, it's much more complicated than that, but Izuku worries over Denki's self-esteem and decides this answer will suffice, for now.

"I've fought similar enemies before, and they're mostly the same, so I can fight knowing what they're likely to do. But _you_ -" he grins and Denki feels suddenly a bit inspired, "- _you_ are basically invincible, especially compared to me! You can go into any fight, I'm sure, and not get hurt! Now _that_ is magic!" 

Izuku finishes with a laugh, and Denki joins him.

"Wow! I'd never thought of it like that! Thanks, man!"

He pumps his fist in the air.

"With your awesome fighting and my _invincible_ shield, calming Rudania will be easier than splitting ore!" 


	17. Temple

A couple days before, Izuku had calmed Vah Ruta. He took a day to rest, under Eijirou's insistence, and decided to spend today exploring the area around Zora's Domain since he wasn't able to before with all the water Vah Ruta was spouting. 

With this in mind, he scrambles up over a cliffside and looks down the way he'd come. A bit to the right of this new vantage point is a pond, and in that pond, half-submerged, crumbling ruins he doesn't recognize. 

This in itself is nothing new- he sees the crumbled ruins most everywhere, a constant reminder of his mistakes and the world he needs to protect- but these particular ruins are different. 

There are chunks of stone pillars and walls with illegible inscriptions carved into them, and weathered steps and bits of long-tarnished metals that, even still, look too ornate to have been used in daily village life. 

Izuku pulls out the Sheikah Stone from the convenient water-proof (and fire-proof and thermal-regulated and elastic and really just everything-proof) pouch Nemuri had given him and with a swipe of his finger, brings up the map. 

"The Temple of Sages..?" He reads aloud. Then he shrugs his shoulders and puts the Sheikah Stone back in its pouch. Then he grabs his paraglider from his Adventurer's Pack (magically expanded via _more_ Sheikah tech) and unfolds it.

May as well go back and explore it. 


	18. Boss

"Be careful Izuku! That thing has a really long reach!" 

Ochako's voice sounds out around him, and he stops staring up at the disgusting wraith that'd killed her- the Waterblight- and jumps to the side just in time to avoid getting impaled by its glowing blue spear. 

Right. He can't afford to hesitate.

Izuku darts forward, the hilt of the Master Sword One For All a comforting weight against his palm, and gets in a couple slashes. The Waterblight shrieks in pain and rage, and quickly teleports across the chamber. 

From the water below it, three giant cubes of ice rise and hover in front of its face. Izuku destroys one of them with the Cryonesis rune on his Sheikah Stone as the Waterblight prepares to hurl them at him, and ducks and rolls to avoid the other two. He doesn't worry about keeping the Sheikah Stone out- being literal stone imbued with Sheikah technology, it's very resistant to just about everything. 

Again, he dashes, footsteps splashing against the water-soaked floor of the command chamber. He leaps up as high as he can go and stabs even higher, piercing the Waterblight's eye. 

It howls as the room changes shape. Four platforms rise up from the floor as water floods in, quickly lifting Izuku to roughly the same level as said platforms. 

"Izuku, are you okay?" Ochako asks. Izuku himself grunts in affirmation as he pulls himself onto a platform.

"Whew! That's good! But it's not over yet! Careful- there's not a whole lot of moving room!"

Again, the Waterblight tries to fire those giant ice cubes at him. This time Izuku is able to use the Cryonesis rune to take them all out. 

He quickly shoves the Sheikah Stone back into its pouch and pulls out the bow he'd taken from the Lynel on Mount Polymus. He knocks a lightning arrow and aims for the Waterblight's face. 

He pulls the drawstring and lets it loose, watching as the electrified arrow suddenly splits into three, each of them flying to hit different parts of the Waterblight's face.

The wraith shrieks and collapses onto a platform, writhing in place as malice leaks from its eyes. Izuku takes this chance to swim towards it, the speed of his strokes enhanced by the Zora armor. 

He leaps from the water with all the grace of Eijirou and thrusts downward, putting all of his strength into One For All as he stabs straight through the Waterblight's chest. 

With a painfully loud screech of agony, it throws him off and begins to dissipate in bursts of dark crimson miasma as the water around Izuku begins to lower. 

He can hear Ochako cheering.

"Yes! Good job Izuku! You did it!" 

The Waterblight's enraged scream fades as the horrible monster vanishes, taking the red miasmic air with it. 

Everything is still.

Vah Ruta is calm.


	19. Ghost

After the Fireblight vanishes in the same manner as its watery counterpart, Tetsutetsu appears in front of Izuku, an easy smile on his face. 

His form is pale and wispy, made visible by the blue flames at his feet. He is not the reassuring larger-than-life figure from Izuku's recently recovered memories. 

But at least he doesn't wear the wounds that killed him. Ochako didn't, either, Izuku recalls. Maybe it's just part and parcel for death. 

Tetsutetsu ruffles his hair, though Izuku registers the feeling as a gentle, cool breeze, and grins.

"Good job, little bud. Now you just gotta restart the main control terminal, and I can join the others. Once you get to Hyrule Castle, All For One won't know _what_ hit'im!" 

His smile turns sad. 

"Ochako gave you her gift, right? Well, once you start up Rudania, I wanna give you something, too. I don't really have a use for it anymore, and...well, you're still alive." 

Tetsutetsu steps back and hovers above the command terminal. 

"Now, get to it, bud! Hyrule needs ya!" 

With an answering grin inspired by Tetsutetsu's faith, Izuku steps forward and places his Sheikah Stone onto the shallow groove in the pedestal. 

Tetsutetsu flashes him one last grin as Rudania starts to move. 

"You're doing great, Izuku. Hopefully, I won't have to see you again for a long time."


	20. Companion

After checking in with Chiyo, Izuku passes by Cotera's spring on his way out of Kakariko Village. The wolf, Link, is still there, perched on its haunches as if its waiting for him. 

Izuku passes by it and is surprised to hear the gentle scrape of clawed paws (and a broken manacle) at his right. 

He looks down as he walks and Link chuffs at him. 

He shrugs, deciding to just go with it. 

He awkwardly reaches down and scratches Link behind the ears, figuring maybe the wolf will get bored and leave on its own.

Link abruptly barks and dashes towards a nearby mountain goat. And then he just chomps down on its neck, killing it easily. 

_Please don't let that be somebody's pet..._

Link then takes the dead goat in his jaws and begins to physically drag it towards Izuku, stopping at his feet and looking up at him with a bloody doggy grin. 

Izuku sighs but pets Link's head regardless.

 _This is gonna be a_ loooong _quest..._


	21. Ancient

Izuku _haaaaates_ fighting Guardians. Implications of his failure aside, they're just really hard to beat! Normal weapons hardly affect them at all, whether they're decayed or not, and even One For All only scratches them!

His saving grace comes in the form of Dabi, Shouto's brother who acts as a traveling merchant (wierdly enough, Izuku finds him at all the stables at any given time, and nowhere else), on what is apparently Customer Appreciation Day. 

"Hey half-pint. You're my best customer, so take this."

He hands Izuku an arrow with a glowing blue head and an almost copper shaft. 

"It's an Ancient Arrow," he says as Izuku turns it over in his hand. "Got it from Hizashi up in Akkala. These things are really good at taking down Guardians. Just one, right in the eye. That'll shut it down real quick." 

Later, Izuku finds a decayed Guardian right in front of a lighthouse at the northeastern edge of the Akkala mainland. 

Before it can fire its laser at him, he ducks behind a convenient rocky mound and nocks the ancient arrow. He peers around the corner, listening to the broken beeping-whirring sound of the Guardian trying to move, and aims at its glowing blue and pink eye just as it locks onto him. 

It begins to charge up its laser, sparks of superheated energy gathering around its eye, and Izuku looses the arrow before the Guardian can even fire. 

It flies, pierces the ancient machine's eye-

And the Guardian goes still. It shudders and jerks in place as thin wisps of Malice flow up from it.

And then it explodes, leaving only a few screws and a shaft lying in a patch of scorched grass. 


	22. Favorite Character

Eijirou is very quickly becoming Izuku's favorite person (well, fish-person. Zora.), he decides. 

"Aww really!? Thanks _so much,_ man! You're the _best_!" 

The bright red Zora sends him a sharp toothed grin from his place under Inigo Bridge. 

Izuku flashes a smile of his own and Eijirou is absolutely _beaming._

"Oh hey- Hylians like you aren't really good with electricity, right? Um, you should take this, then!" 

Eijirou flips his tail, using it to launch...something, into Izuku's open hands. The green-haired boy fumbles to catch it. 

It's a glass bottle with a thick, bright yellow liquid inside. 

"It's an electric elixer! There are lots of enemies on the road to Zora's Domain, and they like their shock arrows! So that should help you, at least a little!" Eijirou calls up to him. 

Izuku nods his head.

"Right! Thanks for that, Eijirou!" He calls down. 

Eijirou flashes him another sparkling, sharp grin. 

"Nah! Thank _you_ for agreeing to help! That's so manly of you! It'll be a long road ahead since you can't swim like a Zora, but you can do it! I believe in you!" 

And with those parting words, Eijirou ducks down, resubmerging himself, and swims upstream. 

Izuku can already tell they'll get along _swimmingly._


	23. Zelda

Eri is not the Princess of Destiny, and she knows it. 

She knows it in the way her father frowns and tuts and scorns at her research of the Sheikah technology. 

She knows it in the way she prays at the three sacred springs of Power, Wisdom, and Courage, and nothing happens.

She knows it in the way Izuku comforts her just like he did when she was little (he has some Zora blood somewhere, she thinks, and that's just another point- Princess Zelda's chosen Hero was _full_ Hylian, not _mostly_ ). 

All Eri has is her horn- supposedly a biological conduit for the Sacred Power granted to Hylian princesses- but did Zelda have a horn? Eri can't recall. 

But she is not Zelda, for all that she knows she'll play the same role. 

And when All For One appears and she has to bring Izuku to the Shrine of Resurrection, this only cements it.

Except...

Izuku wakes up with amnesia, having not aged at all in the last century, and...

He still saves her. Saves _them._

Izuku is not the Hero of Legend, just as Eri is not the Princess of Destiny, but they play the same roles, and for Eri, it's good enough.


	24. Musical Instrument

Izuku meets Toshinori at the Rito Stable, conveniently and coincidentally before he is to take on Vah Medoh. 

It is a late night, and all the stablehands and Dabi are asleep. Izuku is planning to sleep too, when he hears it- a sad melody coming from the side of the stable across from the trees from which he'd entered. 

So, being curious by nature, Izuku goes to investigate.

He sees a Rito, thin and skeletal, perched on a stone overhang, a wide instrument in his...hands? Wings? Hand-wings? 

The instrument itself is unfamiliar to Izuku- it collapses and expands and folds in on itself, and there are piano keys on either end of it.

Izuku climbs up to sit on the edge of the overhang, not terribly far from the Rito, and listens to his song. 

It, too, is unfamiliar. 

But it sounds beautiful in its sadness, accentuated by the strangely rhythmic sounds of the instrument in the Rito's wings.

Izuku is enraptured, and he only realizes it's finished when he hears the Rito speak to him in a soft baritone voice.

"Young man...you're out awfully late, aren't you?" 

Izuku startles, but quickly settles himself.

"That was a very beautiful song, sir..." 

The Rito chuckles.

"Call me Toshinori, young man. As for that song...it was taught to me by my mentor, long ago. It has lyrics, too, if you'd like to heat them..?" 

Izuku decides he does indeed want to hear them. 

"I'd like to," he says softly, not wanting to interrupt the peaceful stillness of the night. 

With a smile and a light in his sunken blue eyes, Toshinori straightens his posture and begins to play, his voice singing an ancient story into the starry sky.


	25. Ruins

Izuku stumbles into the ruins of Mabe Village (according to the Sheikah Stone) on his way to a stable he sees in the distance.

He stumbles- quite literally- and just barely avoids a face full of water (and leaves, and lilypads, and who knows what else). He stands up and looks down, peering through the water to see what had tripped him. 

The crumbled stone bottom end of a pillar, not elaborate in the way ruined temple pillars tend to be. 

So this place used to be a village. Or a garrison, Izuku supposes, but those tend to have higher walls and the rusted remains of barred windows, and this place has neither. 

So, it was a village. And now it's just another wetland feature. 

But it's the first ruined village Izuku had come across that looked modern (or at least, as modern as ruins could look). It isn't like other villages he'd seen so far, with crumbled paths leading to ancient shrines and animal imagery displayed everywhere. 

In those cases, it's easy to pretend those villages might've been destroyed well before he was born. 

But the ruins of Mabe Village, though clearly old, are simple and unadorned. The ceramic shards floating atop the shallow water and the bits of tile that were once rooftops- little things that he'd also seen in Lurelin and Rito Village. 

They are a grim reminder that there were _actual people_ here- people that, a century ago, he might have known. People that he'd failed, who died physically, but went on to die in spirit as they were forgotten by the survivors of their time, and then by Izuku himself- if he ever knew them to begin with. 

There is a hollow ache in his chest as it really sets in. 

There were people here. Men and women and children and elders- all dead. Because of him.

Izuku sinks to his knees, the cold water seeping through his pants and chilling his skin. 

He wants to cry. It wouldn't solve anything, but it would offer a bit of release from the guilt pressing on his mind.

The ruins and the knowledge that it's _his fault, all his fault_ are just another piece in this horrid puzzle. 

The Guardians, the monsters, the spirits, the ruins, the dead king, the struggling princess, the memories, the nightmares, the trauma- in this moment, it all comes crashing down upon Izuku as he's knelt, freezing, in the ruins and the bones of Mabe Village.

And so, for the first time in his new journey, he cries.


	26. Key

The locked door is a familiar foe to anyone who's ever gone adventuring. 

The small key is a familiar asset in dealing with aforementioned foe. 

Though the small key itself varies from shrine to shrine, Izuku notices. The spokes and ridges are similar enough to look identical at a glance, but as he turns it in his hand, Izuku notices the weight is different. The spokes are just slightly off. There's a nick where there wasn't one before. 

Like the shrines themselves, the keys within look the same as each other at a glance, but to a careful observer, they are all very unique and nonetheless helpful.


	27. Fairy

Izuku thinks the fairies are adorable in the way they flit around, their tiny wings carrying their tinier bodies all around the Great Fairy Fountains of the world.

And then one of them lands onto his open palm, and he has a moment to really appreciate it. 

It doesn't have legs- even tiny ones old artists like to depict. It fits nicely in his hand like a palmfruit but smaller, and it feels cool against his hand, like the Kara Kara Oasis after ploughing through the heat of Gerudo Desert.

And then it flies up, out of his hand, to hover and sparkle and glow in front of his face. It emits a sound like tiny little bells, and suddenly Izuku feels very blessed for having witnessed it.


	28. Outfit

Izuku trudges through the heavy snow of the Hebra mountains, admiring the moonlight reflecting off the falling snow. 

It should be freezing- actually, according to his Sheikah Stone, it's well _below_ freezing- but decked out in his newly 3-star Snowquill set- complete with Rito feather headdress- he doesn't feel even the slightest bit cold. 

The molten Rito feathers used for soft beds are fine and all, but it's a different matter entirely when he can feel them in his clothes now, directly against his skin. They're so warm and soft and just...aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh...

He sighs in contentment.

The Snowquill set really is the best! 


	29. Corrupt

Izuku finds the first Guardian in front of the Ja Baij shrine. Amidst the crumbling walls and broken arches and overgrown pillars, it is something he is not entirely familiar with. At this point, he's seen similar shaped things perched along the Forgotten Temple and the walls near the Sheikah Tower, but those ones don't start whirring and beeping when he passes them, not like this one.

In the lonely, heavy silence of the Great Plateau, the noise should have been a comfort.

It is anything _but._

The sudden sound startles Izuku out of his skin and has him scrambling to get upright. As he watches, a red dot crawls up his body and stops at his chest, locking on. 

The decayed Guardian fires a laser of blue-hot energy and Izuku ducks and rolls to avoid it, following his muscle memory. Then he scrambles to hide behind a wall. 

The decayed Guardian can't move to reach him- its legs are trapped and rusted and broken, and it can barely even manage the jerky rotation of its upper half. 

When he dares to peak around the corner of the wall, Izuku sees the Guardian's toxic purple glow dim. It's still active, by the way its flashing blue eye rolls around in its socket and a similar blue light flashes through the cracks of its exterior. But the Guardian can't see him- it lacks the sense of object permanence to know he's there while he's out of its line of sight.

Perhaps it's a result of its corruption. Perhaps it's because it's decayed. Izuku doesn't remember enough to be sure either way. 


	30. Race

The different races of Hyrule all have their own unique quirks which, in turn, dictate where they live.

Zoras have gills as well as lungs, and their fins make them great swimmers. Their gills prevent them from living for long periods in dryer regions (especially the desert) while their lungs keep them from living solely underwater, and the only reason they don't live in the ocean is because their bodies haven't evolved to handle so much salt. Or at least, that's Izuku's theory- if there _are_ saltwater Zoras, he hasn't met them yet. 

The Ritos' wings are ideal for flying and gliding along the wind, and their feathers keep them safe from wind resistance and cold air. Their legs and spines are upright because it's a biological, evolutionary advantage in regards to hunting and storing energy, much like the Zora. 

The Gorons are like especially big, humanoid rocks. Well, mostly humanoid. They can withstand extreme temperatures without feeling anything as a result of their rocky bodies. These bodies keep them safe from most forms of injury, too- most Gorons die of old age than anything else, and the ones that don't are either blown up or otherwise crushed, drowned, or suffer some other internal complication. But even that is rare, as Goron organs are also really really tough. Tough enough for them to eat literal rocks. 

The Gerudo are the most similar to Hylians, though they also have their distinctive features. Red hair said to have been a mark of Din Herself, and tanned skin that comes from several milleniums of generations living in the sunbaked desert. For some reason though, it's rare for male Gerudos to be born. Maybe it's a chromosome thing, or some other genetic mutation? 

And then there are Hylians, special in that they have _no special traits whatsoever._

Or at least, that's what Izuku thinks. 

Of course, his friends among the other races think otherwise. 

Eijirou sought a Hylian because Hylians, aside from being more electricity-resistant than Zoras, can still swim (unlike Gorons, who are even more resistant to electricity but can't swim at all).

Katsuki allows Izuku to help him fight Vah Medoh because he respects his strong sense of morals paired with his combat skill. 

Kyoka trusts Izuku to calm Vah Naboris because he is as cunning as she is, as any Gerudo warrior is, but for the good of the many, like herself.

Denki follows Izuku up Eldin Mountain because he is trustworthy- Izuku saved Denki twice at that point, and he wants to see more of what this tiny, squishy boy can do. 

Since the Calamity, since All-For-One, none of them got to meet many Hylians, if any. But Izuku is a _good one_ , a real credit to his race, which is more than any of them think can be said of themselves.


	31. Free-For-All: Future

The Arrow of Light flies straight and true and finally, All For One, who'd brought so much torment to Izuku and Hyrule as a whole, falls. 

His protoplasmic body implodes in a burst of pink and black sparkles, which swirl aimlessly in the air and then onward to the sky like dust motes. 

Izuku collapses to the ground beside Deku, exhausted and yet anxious. 

Even when Princess Eri appears, glowing and radiant, Izuku doesn't relax. 

His memories aren't all back- the ones he'd recovered are only from his time serving Eri- and they still don't know what (or who) was behind All-For-One. And there's still the matter of rebuilding Hyrule, too, physically and socially- everyone thought Eri had died, after all. 

There are just too many unknowns, now that the immediate danger is gone. 

And now that they've defeated All For One, Izuku knows that he and Eri will be expected to deal with future threats, too. 

But Izuku had signed up for that role. 


End file.
